Just wanted to say thanks to my Element peeps for being so awesome.
It's a privilege and an honor to minister to and with you.
Bold As Love is Element's missional budgeting initiative, which stipulates that 60% of all money given to Element goes back out the door to our neighbors in need, near and far.
Over the last several weeks, I've been profiling the different recipients of Bold as Love funds for this first phase of its implementation, and this post I'd like to share with you the last place we are supporting -- Mosaic.
Currently, 20% of all donations given to Element are then going to Mosaic, which is a non-profit organization that initiates sustainable projects for peace and social justice in southern Sudan and Uganda and partners with organizations to enact creative strategies to serve those who are suffering in these areas.
From their website:
The image of a “mosaic” expresses the beauty that emerges when broken and fragmented bodies, communities, and regions experience health, healing, and social justice. But, it also symbolizes the means for serving these areas—numerous organizations coming together in partnership and network to join resources for the sake of human rights and peace.
Mosaic is run by a tiny staff directed by founder Justin Holcomb (a religious studies and sociology professor at the University of Virginia) and his wife Lindsey (a community advocate for the Sexual Assault Resource Agency in Charlottesville), and they are doing great work to meet the medical, nutritional, and educational needs of folks suffering in Africa.
Check out their list of ongoing projects here.
One of the most appealing aspects of Element's giving to Mosaic is that they maintain zero overhead. That is not a misprint.
The ideal charitable organization operates with a 80/20 or 90/10 split, which as little donations as possible covering administrative costs. But when you give to Mosaic, 100% of your donation goes directly to the projects that are tangibly helping those in need.
It doesn't get any better than that.
Thank you, Element community, for being bold as love.
We have a new mailing address!
Since we haven't met in Bellevue for going on six months, it just made sense to move our official addy to a new post office.
You can now send any correspondence, including donations to the ministry and fan mail to Jason Haggard, to the following address:
Element
PO Box 120835
Nashville, TN 37212
(We still gather for worship every Sunday evening on the campus of Immanuel Church in Brentwood.)
Throughout our current relationships series -- LOVERS: Love, Sex, and the Gospel -- I've been recommending a book or two here and there for anyone interested in some good resources for relationships helps. These are some of the best I know of.
Relationships, Generally:
When Forgiveness Doesn't Make Sense by Robert Jeffress -- A little known book that is outstanding. Highly recommended.
The Five Love Languages series by Gary Chapman -- Initially pitched at married couples, the principles are applicable to nearly all relationships (which is probably why there's a billion different variations). The books are probably hit or miss, but the core idea is good, practical help for those interested in selfless love in their relationships.
Marriage:
Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas -- This is the best marriage book I've ever read.
As For Me and My House by Walter Wangerin -- This one is darn good too, but the writing is fairly thick. Wangerin's book is also pretty heavy on "story." Still, he's writing the most important things about marriage that others are not.
Men and Women:
For Women Only: What You Need to Know About the Inner Lives of Men by Shaunti Feldhahn -- I cannot recommend this book more highly.
For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women by Shaunti Feldhahn and Jeff Feldhahn -- Ditto.
Point Man: How a Man Can Lead His Family by Steve Farrar
Love & Respect by Emerson Eggerichs
Sex and Sexuality:
Sex and the Supremacy of Christ by John Piper and John Taylor -- Each chapter is an essay on a different subject. Covers everything from sex to singleness, marriage to manhood, etc. A fantastic book from some of Christianity's best pastors and writers.
Is That All He Thinks About? by Marla Taviano -- Exactly how it sounds.
The Act of Marriage by Tim LaHaye and Beverly LaHaye -- A Tim LaHaye book that is about a rapture of a different sort.
Why don't we say the rosary? Why don't we follow the Pope as authoritative?
What's the big deal about salvation by grace through faith?
Five hundred years ago (give or take), an Augustinian monk nailed a notebook to a church door, basically throwing gasoline on the match of the Reformation.
We're happy he did.
Join us this Sunday evening as we break briefly from our Lovers series to celebrate Reformation Day and all the blessings God has given us through it.
6:30 pm on the campus of Immanuel Church
Bold As Love is Element's missional budgeting initiative, which stipulates that 60% of all money given to Element goes back out the door to our neighbors in need, near and far.
The 60% figure comes from 50% designated to local and foreign missions and 10% dedicated to church planting and support. For this first phase of Bold As Love's implementation, we are giving this 10% to Immanuel Church.
Immanuel Church is a Nashville community pastored by Dr. Ray Ortlund. This church and this pastor have been incredibly gracious and servant-minded to us. Dr. Ortlund has been meeting with me on a regular basis, and has met with other members of Element's board of directors, providing friendship, wisdom, guidance, and mentorship. His investment in Element and its leadership has been a huge blessing.
When Element suddenly lost its meeting space with only a month or so before returning to weekly worship, Dr. Ortlund and Immanuel came through in the clutch to intercede for us with Otter Creek Church of Christ, the owners of the building currently leased by Immanuel Church. This is why Element meets on the campus of Immanuel Church.
They have asked for a bare minimum for rent, so these additional monies are also a thank you for their generosity.
They continue to encourage and inspire us.
In addition, there are not many pastors in the Bible Belt regularly preaching the sufficiency of Christ from the pulpit. Ray Ortlund is one of the few pastors in Nashville regularly and diligently teaching as though the gospel is "of first importance," and because Element seeks to support gospel-driven churches, blessing them in this way is our duty and privilege.
When Immanuel Church first took to their current facilities, Element provided many items needed for their nursery as a part of one of our monthly service projects. Since then we continue to look for ways to serve and partner with this great community so that we can experience the unity of the Body (across congregations) in a city we wish to reclaim for the gospel of Jesus.
Bold As Love is Element's missional budgeting initiative, which stipulates that 60% of all money given to Element goes back out the door to our neighbors in need, near and far.
Each Sunday evening during the announcement time for the next few weeks, I will be highlighting the different recipients of Bold As Love funds designated for our first quarter. I have already profiled Cottage Cove, and last weekend at Element we profiled a foreign missions agency called LUO.
15% of Element offerings at this time are going toward the sending of our very own Jess Mulvaney on a LUO-orchestrated trip to aid the poverty-stricken in South Africa. Here, from Jess' own blog, are the details:
Luo - (v) to set free.
Luo is a Greek word. It is also the name of a non-profit organization that I was introduced to last spring at Orange Conference. Luo exists to improve the lives of impoverished children and set them free from the bondage of poverty. They are dedicated to promoting economic sustainability and improving quality of life through: Biblical and academic education, financial support, medical care and nutrition.
The goal of LUO is to partner with locally-based agencies in impoverished countries that have first-hand knowledge of the needs and the culture. By providing resources to these local organizations, they hope to empower them to effectively provide needed services to the children in their communities . . .
When I learned of Luo's work at Ithemba, a day center for orphans in Jeffery's Bay, South Africa, our family began sponsoring this little boy from Jeffery's Bay, South Africa for the year.
I am so excited that in November (7th-17th) I will be going with Luo on a missions trip to Ithemba. We'll be working with the kids there, as well as spending some time with the local church that Luo is partnering with. If Luo is able to raise the needed funds before our trip, we may even be able to begin construction work on the orphanage. They plan to expand the orphanage to have room for sleeping quarters. Right now these sweet kiddos are sleeping in the streets.
If you would like to be a part of helping these children in South Africa, you can support my trip financially. I need to raise $3000 by Oct. 15. All gifts can be sent directly to LUO Inc. 729 Princeton Mill Run Marietta, GA 30068. Please put "Jess Mulvaney" in the subject line of the check. All donations and trip support is tax deductible. You will receive a receipt for any gifts. You can also support Luo in general using this same address or through their website.
Element is proud to support one of our community members as she obeys the Great Commission. Not only do we get to fulfill the purpose of the Bold As Love Initiative, we also get to, in a more short-term way, fulfill one of our vision goals of sending out Element missionaries.
This is just the first step. As many of our folks feel God's call to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, and as Element grows, we hope to someday send and support a full-time missionaries.
Two weeks ago Element's board of directors voted in a specific recipient plan for "Bold As Love," our missional budgeting initiative. We decided to act retroactively, so not only will 60% of all future offerings to Element go back out the door to those in need, we began cutting checks to give away 60% of all we had in the bank, everything we'd saved in about a year of independent ministry.
Each Sunday evening during the announcement time for the next few weeks, I will be highlighting the different recipients of Bold As Love funds designated for our first quarter, and last night I began by profiling a local Nashville mission agency that we have helped out with in different ways since our days as BCC's young adult ministry.
Cottage Cove Urban Ministries is a fantastic ministry to at-risk kids (and their families) in the Wegewoood area of inner city Nashville. Their primary operation is an after-school program that, among lots of other things, helps kids with their homework, teaches them computer skills, offers arts and crafts classes, trains kids in spiritual formation and Bible memorization, mentors and counsels, and basically loves on some awesome kids.
After school is the prime time for trouble for kids in this demographic, and the loving, intentional ministry of Cottage Cove is really working at breaking the cycles of poverty, unemployment, drugs, crime, and gang involvement. They run some great programs (Christmas With Dignity comes to mind) and maintain a regular Sunday morning worship service for the neighborhood, and the tiny staff of 4* includes a family of 3 who have dedicated their lives to this mission.
If you're looking for a place that does a lot of good for the local "least of these" and the glory of God, maybe you could look into some ways to help.
Element has up to this point done several on-site service projects with Cottage Cove -- yard work, playground maintenance, cleaning, painting, working at the Christmas With Dignity store, etc. -- and made some financial contributions, but beginning last week we sent Cottage Cove a check for 25% of everything we had, and for the foreseeable future, 15% of all giving to Element will go to Cottage Cove. We are just so excited about what they do and how they do it.
And I am very proud of the Element community for getting behind this effort to love our neighbors as ourselves with our money as well as our time. I am honored to be a part of a community that hopes to be as bold as love.
* This is staff. Cottage Cove could not do all it does without the steady help of volunteers and occasional interns.
All October long Element is collecting household items for the Nashville Ronald McDonald House.
The Ronald McDonald House provides free housing for families who are in town while their critically ill children receive care and treatment at area hospitals. It's a great service and comfort to needy families, taking the burden of housing and accommodations off of folks already burdened by concern for their children and the costs of hospital care.
Each Sunday in October, bring donated items to the Element worship service and we'll collect them for you and deliver them at the end of the month. Don't forget! This is another great way Element wants to give back to those in need and we need your help.
Here is the needs list from the Ronald McDonald House. Bring any of these items any Sunday in October.
Dishwashing Detergent (for dishwashers)
Antibacterial Hand Soap
Tub Mats (standard size)
Large Trash Bags
Kitchen Size Trash Bags
Small Bathroom Trash Bags
Mops
Bissell Vacuum Bags Style 4
Panasonic Vacuum Bags (Styles U & U3)
Sandwich Bags
Mattress Covers (twin)
Furniture Polish
Paper Towels
Paper Plates
Pillow Protectors
Dreft Detergent
Laundry Detergent
Fabric Softener
Febreeze/Fabric fresheners
Lysol/409/Mr. Clean/Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Clorox/Antibacterial Wipes
Styrofoam Cups
Bleach
Scrubbing Bubbles
Energy Saving Light Bulbs
65w - 130v Flood Lights (indoor)
Dorm Style Refrigerator
Bissell Bag-less Vacuums
Portable Space Heaters
Reminders:
- Unopened, unused items only
- No perishable food items
- Please no gift cards
